Late last month, the New York City medical examiner confirmed the man who shot and killed four people at a Manhattan office tower had the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE.
The shooter, Shane Tamura, targeted the NFL headquarters in July. He left a note at the scene, claiming to suffer from CTE. He blamed football, which he played from age 6 through high school.
Tamura shot himself in the chest. His letter urged scientists to study his brain. That note included the names of prominent researchers in the field, including neuroscientist Chris Nowinski, CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and a former professional wrestler.
Nowinski said he wasn’t surprised by Tamura’s diagnosis.
“CTE risk in football players, we know from the work at the Boston University CTE Center, is related to how many years of football you play. And we don't know where it starts, but the research thus far suggests it goes up by as much as 30% per year you play, your odds increase,” Nowinski said. “And in our experience now at BU studying hundreds of football players, if you get to 12 seasons, more than half of those that we've studied have had it.”